From Don Leighton, Monmouth, Oregon and general antique and art dealer in Oregon for 25 years.

"I've noticed that Harry Lopp's residency in Oregon 1928-36 is often overlooked in his biographical information, as in the AskArt opening blurb about Lopp. It mentions Canada and Glacier, but not the Oregon period in between. While here, he painted "quickies" for 'eatin' money during the Great Depression, in addition to major landscapes.

Henry Leonard Lopp was born May 1, 1888, near Highmore, South Dakota. Lopp was raised on a cattle ranch and attended nearby Canton and Elk Point schools where he showed early signs of artistic talent by drawing everything around him. Later he studied art under Professor P.J. Rennings at Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska, and privately with Professor John Updyke and Robert Wood.

On July 1, 1918, he was married to Margaret Booth of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Together they painted and traveled over much of the U.S., Canada and Alaska.

During much of the '20's, Lopp was staff artist for the Hudson's Bay Company of Canada and exhibited from Winnipeg west to Vancouver. Contracts with the Elks and Moose Lodges took them north to Alaska for several summers.

In 1928, they established art studios and a home for his parents at Seaside and Portland, Oregon. The Depression forced the closing of the galleries and a move to Great Falls, Montana, in 1936. Lopp was appointed staff artist for the Glacier National Park Company, exhibiting every summer at Many Glacier Hotel until 1941 and again in 1960.
In 1944, Lopp designed and built the lodge on the west shore of Flathead Lake. He handpicked every log in the chalet from standing timber. This home became a center for the arts and a favorite stopping place for their many friends and fellow artists such as Roland Gissing of Canada, Red Skelton, and Dave Rubinoff, a musician.

National art recognition was achieved in 1941 when Lopp was invited to New York for the one-man show at the Milch Gallery and a concurrent showing at the Metropolitan. During their two-month stay in New York, they were the guests of geologist and glacier specialists Dr. and Mrs. Jim Dyson of Yale University with whom the Lopps had spent many days hiking on the trails in Glacier Park. Additional showings followed at the Pressmen's club in Spokane in 1951, and the Premier Award, Fine Arts Department of the Montana State Fair at Great Falls in 1961.

Major commissions were from former President Harry S. Truman for the Museum at Independence, Missouri; FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover; the Lions International President; the restoration of several C.M. Russell paintings in Great Falls; and collections for the Conrad National Bank of Kalispell and the Bank of Idaho at Boise.

Failing health and age forced a move to Kalispell where he passed away in 1974. His passion for the beauty of Glacier Park and his ability to record it on canvas has secured a permanent position as one of the great artists of Montana and the West.

Lopp was a staff artist for the Hudson's Bay Co. of Canada & exhibited from Winnipeg west to Vancouver.

Major commissions were from former President Harry S. Truman for the Museum at Independence, MO; FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover; the Lions International President; the restoration of several C.M. Russell paintings in Great Falls; & collections for the Conrad National Bank of Kalispell & the Bank of ID at Boise.